Hezekiah Phillips (1780-1855) North/South Carolina - Georgia - Alabama

Hello all, I've been chasing my Phillips family line for 10 years now and have gotten to the point most all of us have at least at one point reached: stuck.

The family story goes like: "Two Phillips families left Scotland, one went to Canada - one to the North/South Carolina. They spent some time in Spartanburg, SC and moved down through Georgia and eventually set up camp in Dale/Coffee/Geneva County, Alabama and one small group in Santa Rosa County, FL."

As a disclaimer this line is pretty shady with some criminal background that some of the older generations are to this day quiet and reserved about - even with close family.

Our DNA is heavily over-represented in Ireland and more specifically Northern Ireland (with the typical "stowaway" story with not much proof.

My Family Tree: Phillips Family Tree

There seems to be some potential leads with the North Carolina family: Foster Phillips, Richard Phillips as there is a Hezekiah Phillips mentioned below:

Richard Phillips and Joseph Phillips enumerated 1790 Stokes County Census, living next door to each other.

"March 19, 1807. Will of Richard Phillips. Dec. Term 1816. To Foster Phillips, my brother's son, 50 acres Fishing Island and money to maintain me my lifetime and what is left put to use of his own children: Hezekiah Phillips, John Phillips, Jeremiah Cornelius, and John Cornelius. Executors: Foster Phillips and Hezekiah Phillips. Witnesses: Michael Spanehour, Senr. and Michael Spaehhour, Junr., Jurate. Signed Richard (X) Phillips."

*An additional interesting potential connection is the Joseph and Philadelphia Phillips, but things all start getting really mixed up.

I've done years of research myself and paid for the "Ancestry.com Deep Dive" that told me more about what I already knew than anything. I would greatly appreciate any help of ideas on how to firm up this elusive Hezekiah Phillips, many thank in advance!!

Yes I had my first YDNA(12)tested with National Geographic and since then went up to a 67 Marker test with FTDNA, my group on this site is:

Family Group 68
Kit number N73727

Only other match so far is: SMGF18

Just keep hitting dead ends in the Carolinas

Yes that saves me a lot of headache! There aren't too many Hezekiahs to chase so that is a huge help to at least know not to chase down a dead end, I've wondered if a non-paternal surname event happened or if there was a clan surname identification that didn't match the biological surname which I've been told happened sometimes in clan structures in Ireland/Scotland, it's a bit frustrating to have a solid direction regarding DNA but no real leads, I will definitely consider the upgrade and see if it provides any further direction, as always thanks for the help!

Greetings Joshua ......

I am Deborah Callicott, from NE FL and likewise descend through Hezekiah Phillips (Coffee Co., AL) and have been trying to untangle this "tangled web" for numerous years. I descend from 1. Hezekiah thorugh his daughter 2. Anna Frances Phillips that married James MacKenny WISE, then through 3. Rebecca Ann "Beccan" WISE, b. 1839, then to her son ,4. William J. WISE, who was born in 1864 (m.. Martha Jane Creech Carter). 5. Bessie Mae Wise (m. Ardell Daniels) , 6. Essie Mae Daniels (m. Lee Roy Wilson) , 7. Private 8. ME ....

My maternal great-grandfather, Ardell Daniels, while working with the railroad in the early 1900's, met Bessie Mae Wise, married and lived in AL until 1924, when he moved with his young family back to Clay Co., FL where he was orgiinally from .... There were frequent visits back and forth between the two points even up until the early 1990's when the last of the older folks passed away ..... I was party to many of those visits during my own youth and adulthood ......

I personally have tested at FTDNA (autosomal & mtDNA) and have had some matches with a couple of the AL cousins. I will also tell you that somewhere on the Coffee Co. lineage for myself and the other cousins whose match point is James MaKenny Wise and Anna Frances Phillips, there is a "middle eastern" ancestry of about 3% for this line. Whether this is from the WISE, PHILLIPS, CREECH, or yet to be identified ancestral line, I cannot tell you at this point, but I did decode my raw data at a 3rd party site, and there is NO Native American, African, Asian, India-Indian markers , but indeed Semetic markers associcated with the Fertile Cresent ....... I have had numerous Ashkenazi, a few Sephardic, and a couple of Isreali matches but have not been able to triangulate to determine origin yet as I also carry Semetic markers on another line as well .....

Regarding the possibility of a genetically different NAME ......I can also tell you that I have had numerous matches to persons who carry a Neely, MacNeely, and various spellings. Yes you are correct on the Scots, especially Highland Scots, many of whom did not adhear to the English demands for surnames until the 1600's ....and that name changes were common upon association with other clans .....as well as a variety of other reasons ...... geneological research in Scotland without DNA testing is next to impossible unless one is directly off of a well established and docuemented landed/political family and even that renders many surpises ......

I really hope to hear from you as I think we could make some real progress on this line by working together ......
Kind Regards,
Deborah